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The beginning of the universe, for beginners - Tom Whyntie

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Let’s Begin…

How did the universe begin -- and how is it expanding? CERN physicist
Tom Whyntie shows how cosmologists and particle physicists explore these
questions by replicating the heat, energy, and activity of the first few
seconds of our universe, from right after the Big Bang.

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TED-Ed Original lessons feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed original? Nominate yourself here »

Meet The Creators

Producer Cathy Kwan

Compositor Connie Chan

Director Dan Abdo, Jason Patterson

Animator Joey Mccormick, Mike Luzzi

Editor R.J. Glass

Educator Tom Whyntie

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Additional Resources for you to Explore

Dr. Tom Whyntie completed his PhD in experimental particle physics on the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at Imperial College London and CERN, Switzerland. His thesis centered on the (as yet) fruitless search for Dark Matter in the proton-proton collisions of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Dr. Whyntie is currently the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Researcher in Residence at the Langton Star Centre in Canterbury, Kent, and is a Visiting Academic with the Particle Physics Research Centre at Queen Mary, University of London. As the full-time scientist for the CERN@school project, he coordinates the student research program associated with the school-based Timepix detectors and the space-based Langton Ultimate Cosmic ray Intenstity Detector (LUCID) experiment.Here is a selection of resources on understanding the origins of the universe:The Large Hadron Collider’s experiments have been very busy trying to understand the
origins of the universe. You can read more on CERN’s webpage here. The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment also has a handy biography of our universe, and (if you’ve got
the right ingredients) a recipe for making your own.

The most powerful evidence backing up our current theories of how the universe began
come from astrophysical measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). The
recent results from the ESA/NASA Planck spacecraft are explained by Professor Ed Copeland
in this video.

If you can’t recreate the universe in a real laboratory, can you try in the virtual laboratory? In
this video, cosmologist Dr Andrew Pontzen explains how you can simulate a galaxy using a
computer (well, lots of computers).

In case you were wondering how the Large Hadron Collider is like the Planck spacecraft, Dr
Pontzen and Dr Whyntie explain it all in this video.Here's a great animation about cosmic rays.Here's an article about subatomic particles.This animation has been translated to French. Thank you Hugo Wagner (Translator) and Sadia Ramsahye (Reviewer).

...by studying the astrophysical evidence from space, or trying to recreate the Big Bang in the laboratory? What are the pros and cons of both approaches? What else could we do to find out more about the origins of the universe?

About TED-Ed Originals

TED-Ed Original lessons feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed original? Nominate yourself here »